


Novation

by Avierra



Category: Saiyuki Gaiden
Genre: Dubious Consent, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-01
Updated: 2014-08-01
Packaged: 2018-02-11 06:33:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2057574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avierra/pseuds/Avierra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Fandom: Saiyuki GaidenTheme: Ch-Ch-Changes<br/>Title: Novation<br/>Author/Artist: Avierra<br/>Warnings:  dubcon<br/>Pairing(s): Kenren/Tenpou<br/>Notes: fandom favorite bonus</p>
    </blockquote>





	Novation

**Author's Note:**

> Fandom: Saiyuki GaidenTheme: Ch-Ch-Changes  
> Title: Novation  
> Author/Artist: Avierra  
> Warnings: dubcon  
> Pairing(s): Kenren/Tenpou  
> Notes: fandom favorite bonus

If nothing else, Heaven was a reliably anticlimactic place: day in and day out of sakura blossoms drifting on spring breezes while flights of long-tailed songbirds trilled in crystalline blue skies. Most kami seemed to enjoy that sort of thing, but the eternal sameness of it all got under Kenren’s skin like an itch he couldn’t scratch, and he more and more frequently found himself wondering just how often and to what extent he could render his own special brand of judiciously-couched insolence to Commander Goujun before he was busted for insubordination. And how many deliberately unsubtle innuendos he could murmur in Konzen Douji’s shell-like ears before Konzen threw a punch at him; and also how many times he could take part in a bar fight in his favorite watering hole before they permanently kicked him out. He even considered how often he could flirt with the Bosatsu before She got bored of him. That last hadn’t happened yet, but that might be just because their paths didn’t actually cross that often.

He was bored. He was restless. It was affecting… things. So, despite some judicious down-time in his favorite den of iniquity, the arrival of a baby-faced private telling him that he was immediately summoned to the office of Tenpou Gensui didn’t actually come as much of a surprise to him. Sure, he had another nice warm bottle of his favorite baijiu calling to him.  And sure he was just beginning to ponder how best to liven things up and keep himself from going crazy (or maybe crazy-er) in an environment that he was pretty sure some gnarled kami  had carefully constructed to soothe temperaments much less volatile than his.

This last train of thought was turning into something a lot closer to introspection than he cared to undertake, and with more frequency of late than he cared to admit.

But duty called and all that, and maybe after all he was a little glad of the interruption. He grabbed his bottle and rose, perhaps a little more unsteadily than he had expected. Maybe, probably, he had been there a bit longer than he had thought.

“Later, darlin’,” he said to the waitress assigned to his table. She pouted at him— pretty girl with a pretty pout-- but he threw down some coins on the table and staggered out. Yeah, he definitely had been there awhile longer than he had thought.

*****

Tenpou glanced up from one of the ancient texts spread out across the only surface in his office that he conscientiously kept clean and free of his usual debris of ash and cigarette stubs. Still, Kenren had just fucking cleaned the whole office two days ago, and already the area around the desk was a fire-hazard of paper spills, scrolls, books, weird things he wasn’t even sure what they were, and other assorted Tenpou crap. He heaved a mental sigh, fell onto Tenpou’s ratty couch, more or less of his own volition, and reached for his pack of cigs. He’d had a long day, albeit a long day of drinking in one of Heaven’s seedier dives, and a stress-free smoke sounded pretty good right about now.

He had been peremptorily summoned, which actually wasn’t much like Tenpou come to think of it, but he and Tenpou had never much stood on ceremony with each other in any case. “Hey there. So what’s up?”

“General,” Tenpou greeted Kenren. His tone was bland, and he reached over to a fairly thick pile of papers on his desk and riffed the edges. “Apparently the squad is a bit restless.” He stared at Kenren over the top of his glasses, and Kenren couldn’t tell if he was annoyed or amused. That was usually a bad sign, because most of the time it meant that Tenpou was merely biding his time and assessing weaknesses.

He stared back, his expression as virtuous as he could make it, and wondered not for the first time, how even someone as generally oblivious as Commander Goujun could think Tenpou’s careful, studied, vagueness was genuine. Konzen Douji sometimes seemed to see under that placid mask, but as far as Kenren could tell, nearly everyone else seemed to think Tenpou was some sort of freakish cypher. Tenpou was a consummate conman, and Kenren, of all people, knew from conmen. But far be it for Kenren to spoil his fun. Everyone made their own entertainments in this best of all possible Heavens.

But Tenpou was waiting for him to answer, probably longer than he expected. “General?”

Gods, Kenren was so far off his stride lately. He shrugged and lit up, taking a deep breath of some much needed nicotine, gesturing thoughtfully with the cigarette. Apparently he was getting called onto the carpet. He could play this game, even with Tenpou. He was a master of this game, as a matter of fact. “‘If victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be dampened.’” He almost managed to make that sound not completely assholish.

Tenpou smiled as if delighted— his teeth showed, even-- and Kenren mentally took a step back, wishing for not the first time that he didn’t have such a big mouth. He didn’t actually want to get into it with Tenpou, bad mood or not. And sure, he was being provoking and insubordinate, but not really all that much more than usual. But this was Tenpou in shark mode: his superficially serene smile was all predator-smelling-blood-in-the-water. Kenren wished he could clearly see Tenpou’s eyes behind those thick lenses.   

Still, he tilted his head and regarded Kenren thoughtfully. “‘Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons, and they will follow you into the deepest valley.’ It saddens me, General, to have to be the one to tell you that some of your “beloved sons”have been quite naughty and are apparently in dire need of a spanking.”

Kenren’s mouth quirked up at that, and he considered the mental image with some appreciation.

Tenpou’s thumb riffed the edges of his stack of papers again.“There appears to have been an altercation between First Squad and, hmmm. All the rest of the squads. In front of the officer’s mess.  It seems to have put Shien and Enrai right off their feed.” Tenpou pushed the stack of paper over to Kenren. “And we can’t have that, can we? I’ll leave these complaints for you to deal with. Again.”

“Yeah, yeah. I dealt with the first set already. Whiners. They wouldn’t be complaining if their squads had won the scrum,” Kenren said, taking the stack and dropping it on the couch next to him. He didn’t bother tolook at it. He almost always handled Tenpou’s paperwork anyway, so it wasn’t exactly a punishment for him to deal with this either. He already knew what it said, but it was just another annoyance to add to the list on this wonderful, wonderful day.

“Perhaps not,” Tenpou said, and the tone of his voice jerked Kenren’s waning attention right back to his face, “but being accosted in the corridor is growing tiresome. And I would greatly appreciate it if you refrained from telling them ‘to try not to suck so much’ this time.”

Kenren grinned and took another puff of his cigarette. So much for that idea. Tenpou smiled back, and it was finally a real smile. “Look, I know I’ve been... distracted. I’ll get over it. I’m getting over it.” Kenren corrected himself hastily when Tenpou paused. “And I’ll get the men squared away. Sorry about that.” That sounded so lame, but Tenpou just nodded.

“Fortunately, to that end, I’ve been thinking we could all do with some field exercises. It would seem everyone is full of excessively high spirits. So you and I have a mission Down Below.” One long, ink-stained finger pointed at a spot on the scroll he had been reading, and Kenren leaned over Tenpou’s desk to look at it. It was a map, a really, really old map, stained and tattered and with drops of something splattered over it. Pretty gross, even for Tenpou’s usual reading fare. He didn’t recognize many of the symbols, stylized to the point of incomprehensibility.

“There’s an interesting mix of terrain here that I believe the men can put to good use, but we should check it out first.”

“How old is that map? Everything will probablylook completely different by now,” Kenren protested. He wondered where Tenpou had even come across something that ancient and frankly disgusting, but he’d probably been trawling around in the Heavenly Library again and “borrowed” it.

“Mmm, I think it’s a few hundred years old. Interesting document; the dialect is quite odd and it’s proving to be quite a challenge. I wonder...” his voice trailed off, but he didn’t finish the sentence. “Oh, and there may be some youkai in the area to the west here.” Tenpou’s long fingers pointed to a darker smudge on the map. “At least, I am fairly certain that’s what this symbol means. But I can’t imagine they’ll pose much of a problem. If there are, monitoring and reporting on their activities would undoubtedly be an excellent idea.” Tenpou frowned down at the yellowed, cracked edges, tracing one of the ancient, inked lines-- a road maybe. It was hard to tell from where Kenren sat. “Do you think I should try to analyze its age?”

“No, I think we should find a more recent map.” He stubbed out his cigarette and sat back.

“Well, that’s why we’re going Down Below, General,” Tenpou said very patiently, and Kenren finally got it. This scouting trip meant getting out of Heaven for a few days while the two of them breathed real air and got real dirt on their uniforms. It also got Kenren away from the jaundiced gazes of his fellow officers. In any case, if everything panned out, a week or three of war games and field exercises would cheer everyone up, so there was that too. It was a gift from Tenpou, and Kenren couldn’t help but feel a little guilty because he knew very well that lately Tenpou must have been ingesting an entire ration of shit on Kenren’s behalf, especially if that git Enrai was one of the complainers. Shien was okay, a decent guy, but he was probably out of patience. Kenren needed to pay better attention to the men; his own restlessness was making him sloppy and neglectful. It shouldn’t have become such an issue for them, and most especially not such an issue for Tenpou.

*****

A week or so later the two of them took the portal Down Below the drop off closest to Tenpou’s map site. It always took Kenren awhile to recover from being teleported—his stomach always seemed to think it was still located where it had started off before he stepped through the portal-- and by the time he’d finished puking Tenpou was already in the process of looking over the area, arms folded and a slight frown creasing his forehead as he took in their environs. Tenpou always noticed and mentally filed everything no matter how minute it seemed, and it took a couple of minutes for Kenren to recover enough from his bout of nausea to mentally catch up to him.  

They were surrounded by rolling fields of lush bottomland, and even Kenren’s untrained eye could tell the land was rich and fertile, with crumbly black soil. There should have farmers swarming all over the place, or at least some sign of planted fields or orchards. Something, some sign of habitation. It was as idyllic as anyplace Down Below ever was, but as far as he could tell he and Tenpou were the only two people within miles. He couldn’t even see a plume of smoke marking the possible site of a village or town, and they should have been able to see at least some evidence of habitation from their vantage point.

And the other thing that nagged at him was some sort of almost inaudible humming, a quiet, pleasant sound that filtered itself into the background of his mind almost before he realized it was there. After a few seconds, he had to concentrate hard to hear it, but honestly, it was almost more that he felt it than heard it. Kind of like _youryoku_ , but with a few exceptions the magical powers of _youkai_ tended to be anything but subtle.

He turned around and surveyed the area, frowning. “So where is everyone?”

Tenpou dropped his backpack, pulling out a copy of the map and opening it up. “Hmm. Well, I am fairly certain we were placed right where we wanted. I didn’t want to set down too close to a village, but there should be a road along the banks of the river.” He pointed at a long line on the map, staring over the edge and comparing it to the landscape.

A grassy expanse of meadow along the banks of a fast river opened onto spring-green woodlands, and the breeze that swept past them was redolent of aliveness—bugs and birds and animals, the smells of rich earth and growing things. Trees swept all the way up from the grassland to rolling hills as far as he could see. A gentle breeze riffled through the tops off the grass, making wavy patterns. There was absolutely no sign of any road anywhere in their line of vision.

“Interesting. I agree; this is a bit of a conundrum.” He folded the map back up and tucked it in his coat. “In any case, perhaps we should find a suitable campsite before investigating.”

“Yeah, maybe in the treeline so we’re not out in the open. I don’t like this.” Kenren checked the release on his pistols. “Plus the noise here is really fucking annoying.”

Tenpou paused and tilted his head, listening. “I don’t hear anything odd. Insects and such, but nothing out of place. What are you hearing?”

“Eh. Maybe it’s left over from the Dimension Gate. Sort of like _youryoku_ , but not really. It feels weird, is all.”

“Hmmm.” And Kenren knew another data point had been added to Tenpou’s mental database. “Have you recovered sufficiently to move on?”

Kenren took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders, savoring it and the warmth of the sun on his face, almost lost in the urge to fling himself down and just roll around in the tall grass. It was so… so… un-Heavenly down here, and he was rather surprised at just how profound was his relief at having left Heaven and its problems. He’d been Down Below many times before: to fight, to scout, occasionally just for pleasure, but leaving Heaven this go-around felt like a reprieve. A massive boulder had shifted off his shoulders, and the worst part was that he hadn’t even really realized it was there.

“Yeah. Let’s pitch camp and take a look around. I can already see we could have some fun down here with the field exercises. Lots of different terrain features to play with. Here’s what I’m thinking…”

*****

The treeline was deceptively far away; it took nearly an hour and a half to reach the edge of the woods. It wavered in the distance like a mirage, and by the time he and Tenpou hiked the distance the sun’s rays had started to become oppressive. The hum, whatever it was, droned in the background until he had to make a conscious effort to hear it. He was hot and uncomfortably sticky, but at least the cooler air under the canopy was something of a respite. A small clearing near the edge of the woods backed up to a hilly outcrop of rocks with a sheltering overhang, and they decided it was as good a place as any.

He and Tenpou pitched their tents and dropped their packs; Tenpou’s pack landed on the ground with a suspiciously solid thud. Kenren gave it a good kick to make sure. Yep, no rations or useful gear in there. He couldn’t help grinning. “You brought books? I thought we were staying here a few days.”

Tenpou was surveying the clearing with a slight frown, but he sounded completely cheerful. “I thought we’d live off the land. I know you brought your fishing rod.”

“Eh. Well, I brought extra MREs if we need them, shitty though they are. And yeah, my fishing rod.” He had no idea what Tenpou planned down here other than scouting around and redrawing his crappy map, but his own plans included a spot of fishing and swimming. “Have you ever even really lived off the land?” He couldn’t help sounding a trifle exasperated.

Tenpou shrugged. “I don’t see any particular difficulty. One of those books is a field guide. Or, we can always go back.” He was still frowning as he reached out and ran his hands over the base of the overhang.

Perish that particular thought. “Nah, I can fish for us. We’ll fucking hate the sight of fish by the time we leave,”Kenren promised. He gestured around the clearing. “So what’s up? Am I missing something?” It looked like fairly generic woodland clearing to him.

Tenpou dusted his hands off. “This is quite intriguing. I am fairly certain this area is artificial. Take a look-- that rock face looks like it has tool marks on it, as if the overhang was constructed. And the clearing itself is absent enough of plant life that I suspect that if you dug down deep enough there’d be stone or paving.”

“Maybe it was a scouting outpost or something. I can see how this would be a pretty decent spot to survey the area from if you were at the top of the bank. Hang on a sec…”  

Scrambling up the rock face was remarkably easy, even with the lush undergrowth. Now he was looking for it, he could see there was something that had probably been a path or even maybe a stairs carved into the rock face once upon a time. A scattered pile of half-buried rocks at the summit was all that remained of what had once probably been some sort of platform or even perhaps a sniper’s nest. Off to the side a few meters he could make out lumps of charcoal and charred shards of pottery. And sure enough, he could see for miles over the tops of the trees: not very useful now in terms of a vantage point, but which pointed to the notion that the outpost had been built when the trees were either nonexistent or much smaller.

The whole forest canopy seemed to ripple as he watched; disparate images of trees and buildings roiled together. The sight turned his stomach a bit, bizarre and unsettling. It was hot out in the sun, but not that hot, not hot enough to create heat haze to that extent.

Tenpou had clambered up behind him, map in hand. “I think we’re here,” he pointed. He had written a question mark next to a carefully copied incomprehensible symbol. From up here, even through the illusion or whatever it was distorting the view, they could both make out some sort of large area off to the west. There might have been a spire or tower or something, but if so, it barely cleared the tops of the trees. Not a clearing exactly, but some sort of disruption of the natural order of the forest itself. The pulses of whatever energy it was radiated outwards from that spot, roiling the air around it. “And that disturbed spot over there would be this spot here.” Another question mark and weird squiggle. “I don’t know what that is.”

His head started throbbing in time with the pulses, and he had to wrench his gaze away. The sensation of seeing two different things at once was really unnerving, and he realized he was shaking a little bit as he carefully felt in his pocket for his pack of cigarettes. He draped his arm over Tenpou’s shoulder for a moment and leaned on him while he regained his equilibrium. Tenpou drew deeply and offered the end to light Kenren’s cig, and he felt inordinately grateful that Tenpou didn’t ask him any stupid questions. Tenpou eyed him curiously, then turned and regarded the center of the disturbance, taking notes on the back of the map, his own cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth while he wrote.

 After a moment of companionable silence, he ground out his cigarette and offered, “Okay, welp, let’s go. Doesn’t look that far off.”

“No,” said Tenpou with a wide, half-wild smile, pushing his glasses into place on his nose. “It doesn’t.” Something equally half-wild in Kenren awoke and responded to that smile: he’d willingly and cheerfully followed that smile up the backs of rampaging primordial monsters gone insane with rage and pain;  across the gore-stained battlefields of unconstrained necromancers; down the stinking, acid-etched gullets of abominations. And Tenpou’s voice practically quivered with excitement, his expression more animated than Kenren had seen in months, since the last time they had left, come to think of it. Apparently Kenren wasn’t the only person who was unenthusiastically enduring the grinding perfection that was Heaven.

*****

The trek through the woods was more or less uneventful now that they knew to look for long-forgotten roads or pathways where the undergrowth was not so heavy. It still took a lot longer than Kenren had expected, even accounting the distance-distorting effects of whatever it was. He had made the decision to lug along his pack as well, and that didn’t help the process. It was early afternoon by the time they arrived at the location they had seen from the rocks.

The distortion that had plagued them all the while they trekked here had vanished as soon as they stepped into the plaza, and they were able to get their first clear look at the area.

The forest path they had taken near the end had broadened and finally opened out into a square of sorts; jumbled, scorched cobblestones littered what was once a main thoroughfare, and semi-collapsed buildings spilled into the streets. Trees grew rampant and twisted in the remains of ancient houses; the peeling, shredded bark an unwholesome greenish-grey. At least, he thought the buildings were houses; they could have been anything when they were first built, he supposed. Places where people had once lived and gone about their daily business. He shivered.

They slowly turned and took everything in. The fragments of a fountain lay tumbled from its pedestal in the center of the square, the statue of some long-dead woman that once sat atop it shattered in worn pieces. An arm here, a leg there, the pitcher she had carried on one shoulder in fragments over there. The weathered stump of her thigh protruded grotesque and squat from splintered blocks haphazardly piled.  He could see the head lying on its side as if asleep at the base of the catch basin, her delicate features deliberately smashed. He strode over and bent down to take a better look at the head, and something gleamed up at him in the dust-filled basin.

He reached in and pulled it out, a skull, weirdly elongated and with a clear cut mark indenting the top. He placed it carefully on a rock and peered in the basin more thoroughly, his hand skimming over the tops of other skulls and bones.

“Holy shit! This whole fucking thing is full of people!” He reached in and pulled another one out, a small one, clearly human-looking. “Kids! They fucking killed kids!” He was familiar enough with what sword cuts on bone looked like to be able to tell someone had hacked the kid’s head off. He gently set the tiny head down next to the first skull and stumbled back in disgust.

Tenpou brushed some of the dust away and scowled down at the newly revealed dirty ivory lumps, some with teeth, some without; some elongated, some with human-like physiology-- but all with marks of violence that had left jagged cuts and shattered fragile bone. They had obviously been dumped in there haphazardly, and there were so many Kenren couldn’t count them.

Tenpou's voice was grim. “A fountain this large was probably the water source for this village, so whoever did this was both irrevocably tainting the water supply and desecrating the victims. There might be hundreds of them in there.” Tenpou turned and looked at the contorted trees growing in the plaza. “Something's happened to the plant life as well. I wish I could take samples. The trees here clearly aren’t growing naturally.”

Kenren looked in the well. Little bits of crushed glass sparkled up at him amongst the dust and bone. And something else as well. He brushed the dirt off around it, and pulled it out: a piece of cloth that disintegrated into dustygold metallic threads as he pulled it loose. It looked like it could have been a shoulder mark from a uniform at some point. Two buttons remained in his palm, their insignia somehow, but not quite, familiar.

Tenpou bent over his hand and inspected the buttons. "Hmm. Southern Army, but this insignia is quite old. This version of the insignia was retired hundreds of years ago." He scooped them out of Kenren’s hand and carefully stashed them deep in his pocket.

“Southern Army. Shit. Fuck.” Kenren scrubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. “Is there anything about this on that fucking map?”

“I… No.” Tenpou drew a deep breath. “I don’t think so, although I haven’t made out a good portion of the odd characters. None of it is in our script at all. But what I did manage to figure out seemed fairly straightforward.”

“I gotta tell you, I don’t think doing field exercises here is the right thing to do. I mean, I thought there might be empty buildings and stuff here we could use and have fun running around in, but I didn’t think we’d stumble across a fucking massacre site.”

“No, I agree completely. I’d say our mission down here has substantially changed parameters. Let’s continue on and investigate. It appears whatever occurred here happened quite a long time ago, but apparently after the map was drafted.”

“All right. Shit. This place should be, I dunno, have prayers sung over it or something. They shouldn’t just be left here like that.”

“We’ll make a complete report, I promise.”

Kenren snorted. In his experience reports mostly ended up being filed with no action whatsoever taken except for some schlub to put their chop on it, but if it came to that, he had low friends—well, low acquaintances-- in high places who could probably help.

Tenpou gave his shoulder a squeeze, which was unlike him, but which Kenren appreciated anyway. He must have looked pretty shaken. “ _Taishou_.”

Kenren shrugged his pack into place and started walking.

*****

The main road through the center of the village was bounded by the skeletons of buildings, the stones charred and collapsed, the remains of the beams and timbers rotted. Here and there a side road branched off from the center, and he could see smaller groups of other buildings off a ways. All of them had been demolished in some way. The whole town had been devastated, and he halfway expected to see ghosts wandering about. But as far as he could tell nothing stirred around them except small forest creatures or the occasional bird flitting through the unnatural plant life. Clouds of dust puffed in his and Tenpou’s wake as they picked their way through the detritus of fallen buildings and ruined roadways.

The road curved around a set of buildings a couple of hundred yards from the town center; a mostly intact red stone _torii_ arched out over both sides of the street  guarding a tree-lined stairway up a hill into a grove of trees. The _torii_ itself had obviously been attacked with the intent to destroy it, the stone posts scarred and cracked, the black lintels pockmarked and chipped. But it still stood sentinel, by some miracle.

The steep, close-set stairs themselves had not fared so well; either time or effort had mostly crumbled them, and little piles of worked stone obstructed the way up.

Tenpou stepped forward and examined the damage to the _torii_ , then stepped through it and started up the steps, carefully picking his way up the path.

Kenren laid his hand on one of the posts, fingers slipping easily into the cracks. The stone was cool against the palm of his hand. “Whaddaya think, fire?” he asked, indicating the pillars. He followed behind Tenpou, watching where he placed his feet. It was a long way to the bottom of the stairs, and a longer way back to camp. He didn’t relish walking back through the woods with a sprained or broken ankle.

“I’m not sure,” said Tenpou. “Possibly. But given the scope of the rest of the damage here, I think perhaps magic of some sort.”

“That’d account for the trees down in the town too, I guess.” But he couldn’t help but note the trees on this side of the _torii_ were not contorted and malformed like they were in the town below; their weeping branches swept gracefully down the stairs rather than twisting and knotting back upon themselves.

The stairs opened up into a space that had clearly once been a garden; he could still see planters—now shattered—and trees that had been planted over once-graveled paths and the muddy craters of ancient ponds now filled with weeds. The shrine itself lay before them, the door lying on the ground where it had been torn off its hinges. That was the only damage he could see on it; the rest appeared merely as if time had taken its toll. It was a small shrine, a village shrine with a humble roof that had probably once been thatched but which now had mostly caved in. There was no ornamentation or gilding on the walls, no carvings on the lintels.  At the base of the entry stairs, next to the partially deteriorated guardian statues, he could make out part of a skeleton half buried in the dirt and weeds. The bone structure was all wrong, oddly robust and malformed.

They entered the shrine, passing another deformed skeleton in the worship hall where it lay fallen at the base of a statue of the shrine’s _kami_. The shrine’s stone-flagged floor was surprisingly intact, but interior smelled dank and musty, and he could see motes of dust falling in the late-afternoon light filtering through the remains of the roof.

The _kami_ looked vaguely familiar: a woman clad in form-fitting, flowing robes, long hair gathered behind her to trail down her back. Her arms extended to either side. A spindle fell from her left hand, suspended for eternity in mid-air; a spoked wheel floated above her right hand. A tiny carved spider crouched at her feet, the little jeweled eyes winking green at him. The expression on her face was almost… wry. An odd expression for a representation of divinity, he thought. He could feel the divine power oozing, so unlike his own, but he recognized it as such and knew he had felt it hours earlier when they had first arrived, and that more than anything else made him whirl to look over at Tenpou. But it was already too late.

“She looks familiar,” Tenpou was saying—great minds think alike, thought Kenren wildly in the split second before everything went to hell-- and he reached out his hand to inspect the statue a bit more closely. As soon as he touched the statue, a galaxy of sparks streamed from the statue and crawled up Tenpou's arm, across his face, limning his features, wreathing the length of his hair, streaming down his body. It was probably the most beautiful thing Kenren had ever seen.

“Wait—“ he shouted and tried to push Tenpou away, and then watched as the sparks leaped from Tenpou and shot up his own arms, little flowers of flame that tickled rather than burned. The pleasant hum he had been hearing in the background for hours rose to a staccato snarl that might have sounded like words under other circumstances-- angry, furious, bitter words-- until it was all he could hear or feel. He saw Tenpou staring down at his spark-covered hands, his mouth open in surprise, Kenren’s knees buckled, and then there was an explosion of light and shattered stone, sunlight shining through clouds of dust, and Tenpou disappeared. And that was all he knew.

*****

When he came to, he was lying on some sort of white stone dais with Tenpou’s coat wadded under his head. Stone walls, about a meter high, surrounded the platform. Tenpou was kneeling and staring down at him, his face tight and very pale.

He supposed he must have fainted, which was pretty girly and embarrassing, and his head hurt like a mofo, but it was Tenpou’s expression that had him struggling to sit up.

“Hey, why that face?” He leaned back on his elbows and squinted. At least  air was cool and clear. He felt a bit better just breathing it.

“You were bleeding from your ears,” Tenpou said. There was a note in his voice that Kenren had never heard before, and Tenpou staring at him as if he’d never really seen him. If he had had to guess, he would have said Tenpou was rattled, but that was obviously wrong because nothing ever fazed Tenpou.

“Okay. Well, yeah, that’s pretty gross.” He swiped the back of his hand across his ears and neck, eyeing the red streaks with distaste. He could still hear just fine, so there didn’t seem to be any permanent damage. “Where’s my pack?” Tenpou slid it over to him, and he took out and wet a towel, cleaning himself up as best he could.

Tenpou watched him while he washed up. Kenren tried to keep a more-or-less cheerful monolog going, anything to chase that expression away. “All right, I’m fine, I think. I have the gods’ worst headache ever, but otherwise I seem to be good. Do you feel okay?”

“No,” said Tenpou, but didn’t elaborate, although he was sweating slightly. It was cool up here in the hills, so that was a bit odd, but maybe Tenpou was a bit shock-y.

Kenren stumbled to his feet, still a little woozy, and leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette. He could see the sun beginning to set over the edge of the hills in the west, so he couldn’t have been out for that long.

“So. Any idea where we are? What happened? I saw you vanish in a cloud of sparks, and that’s the last thing I remember. The building collapsed too, or at least I think I remember seeing that. But I must have passed out right after that.”

Tenpou joined him in looking out over the area. The dais on which they stood was set in a grove of trees. A paved path led up into the hills, and they seemed to be overlooking a river valley, so perhaps they were in the hills above where they started out. There didn’t seem to be any sign of the village at all from this vantage, but this area had to be part of it, somehow.

At least, Kenren didn’t think they’d be deposited in a totally random location in the middle of nowhere. Although, come to think of it, there were powers that did stuff like that, so maybe so. But this area, with its paved, tree-lined paths and pretty stone daises, seemed more like a continuation of the village. There was no area of distortion whatsoever in the woodlands below them, just normal-looking trees as far as the eye could see. He thought he could make out a silvery ribbon in the distance which might have been the river.

“I arrived right before you did. When you got here, you were already unconscious.” Tenpou lit his own cigarette and they stood and smoked quietly for a few minutes.

“Well, I guess getting back to our camp-site is our next move.”

Tenpou took out his map—and Kenren was beginning to hate the sight of the thing—and spread it out on the ground. They both studied the map, and Tenpou sighed.

“Nothing is leaping out at me as our possible location, I am afraid. Especially since the major landmark seems to have fallen inside the trees.”

“Yeah, right after you vanished, I think the building we were in collapsed." He crouched down and touched the symbol at the far end of the drawing. “OK. You said that the far end of the river valley to the west here was a _youkai_ settlement, right?”

"Yes, I believe so." Tenpou looked over Kenren's shoulder.

"All right, well, it looks to me like the easiest way to get back to where we started would be to go there, and then double back. It seems to me we're in the hills above the town, but just where is anyone's guess. And yeah, we have no idea how long that would take, or how far away it is. So it kind of sucks to be us, but I honestly don't see a better alternative."

Tenpou turned and squinted at the road leading from the dais. "Well, if I had to guess, I'd say this road leads either back to the ghost town, or to some other settlement. It's heading west, in any case. Still, it's evening, so let's gather up some wood and stay on the dais here tonight. We can head out first thing in the morning."

They gathered up enough wood to last through the night: not too difficult, situated as they were in a large grove of trees. They had a bit of time to explore; a few hundred yards away, off the crumbling remains of the road, they found a hot spring and a stream of hot water burbling from farther up the mountain. There were a couple of collapsed buildings, and they decided to take a look at both in the morning.

They built a fire, and Kenren broke out a couple of his MREs and gave one to Tenpou. The silence while they ate was awkward, and Kenren fumbled for anything to say to ease the tense, tired look on Tenpou’s face.

"Mmmm. Delicious powdered fruit drink!" He poured some of his _sake_ in it and chugged it down. "Want a slug?" He offered his flask to Tenpou, sealing it up when Tenpou shook his head. "Mine ration has tea in it, if you'd prefer." He reached over and mixed the tea and heated it.

Tenpou hadn't actually eaten much of his dinner, Kenren noted. He was also sweaty and pale, his expression remote. Tenpou took the tea from Kenren and drank it mechanically and without comment. That more than anything else told Kenren that something was seriously out of whack. Tenpou allowing shitty tea to slide without snarky commentary was practically unheard of.

"You OK?" he asked again. He put down his drink and leaned over to place his palm on Tenpou's forehead. "Huh. You do feel a bit warm."

Tenpou took a deep breath and shivered, his eyes half-closed. He reached over and clasped Kenren's wrist in a firm grip, his thumb stroking over and along the edge of Kenren's glove. "I'm not sick," he said. His voice was husky, and ordinarily Kenren would have described it as “flirtatious.” But he’d never heard anything like that from Tenpou.

"Umm. All right." He tried to tug his hand back, but Tenpou tightened his grip so Kenren couldn’t escape.

“Kenren, I think…” and he faltered. “I don’t know what’s going on, but--.”

“Hey, it’s been a long day,” Kenren began. “It’s been enough to unsettle anyone.” He stopped trying to reacquire his hand, because Tenpou apparently wasn’t going to release it without a struggle.

Tenpou laughed a little wildly. “I’m not unsettled either,” he said, which was clearly a lie. His fingers brushed up the skin of Kenren’s arm and up to his shoulder, and that was a lot more stimulating than it should have been. It wasn’t as if Kenren was a novice in these matters, where a slight caress should send a frisson down his spine.

He took a deep breath, and tried to steady his voice. It was hard with Tenpou looking at him as if he was the most delectable thing he’d ever seen. His eyes were still half-closed.

“Tenpou. Come on, man. Look. I’m flattered, really. And maybe if you weren’t so far out of my league we might as well be in different realities. And also I’ve been trying really hard not to shit where I eat, you know? Fuck.” He gasped, and Tenpou’s long, ink-stained fingers slid around the side of his face, while his other hand eased inside Kenren’s coat and began inching towards his nipple.

“Tenpou—” Kenren began, and then Tenpou slung his leg over Kenren’s thighs, and he was firmly seated and actually straddling Kenren, and there was no way to dislodge him without giving him a good hearty shove, which Kenren wasn’t all that willing to do.

And there was another, really fucking stupid, part of him which was completely on board with all this, except Tenpou was obviously completely off his head, for whatever reason.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t thought about this once or a hundred times. Maybe not this, specifically, where it was almost like what made Tenpou _Tenpou_ wasn’t even awake or something, but he’d definitely thought about what Tenpou might be like if he were willing and able.

“Tenpou!” he said again, and after that it was like watching dominos falling, like a perfectly synchronized dance.

Tenpou kissed him hard and nasty, and fuck, that was so much better than Kenren had thought even in his deepest fantasies, because Tenpou’s mouth and tongue were demanding and insistent, exquisitely talented. So brilliant, just like he was, and Kenren couldn’t help but kiss him back and meet his demands.

He ran his fingers into Tenpou’s dark hair, dusty from the building collapse, and fuck if he didn’t smell as if he’d distilled himself down into his primal essence: the scent of Ark Royal; temple incense; sandalwood; that shitty green tea he liked; _choji_ oil; leather armor; old paper and older inks. It was almost too much: the way Tenpou’ leg rode with just the perfect pressure between Kenren’s thighs, the way Tenpou’s fingers pinched and stroked exactly where Kenren liked, the way his tongue and lips plundered Kenren’s mouth and teased at his neck and stole all his common sense. And he was going to lose it.

“Tenpou!” he said, and it should have sounded stern, like it had in his head. Instead it came out almost a whimper, and Tenpou reared back over him with an utterly alarming, beautiful smile and bit him hard right where his neck met his shoulder. It was like a bolt of fire blazing down the length of his body and coiling in his guts, burning away every doubt and scruple in its path. Tenpou’s scent rose around him, and that was all it took for him to flip Tenpou hard on his back, knocking the breath from him. And then Kenren was on him, or Tenpou was on him, tearing at reluctant buttons too slow to give and zippers that prevented them from reaching what they _needed._

By the time both of them were finished, most their clothes were more or less shredded, but neither cared at all.

*****

Kenren woke when the sun started to rise and the first rays began creeping over the dais. The fire had long since burned out. At some point one or the other had pulled Kenren’s coat over the two of them. Tenpou lay curled up asleep and Kenren could hardly bear to look at him.

He pulled on his pants and Tenpou opened his eyes. He didn’t say anything, watching with a sleep-blurred gaze as Kenren fixed a couple of MREs. Or maybe he actually couldn’t see anything. Kenren didn’t even know. Tenpou’s glasses might have been a casualty; Kenren certainly didn’t see them anywhere.

He handed a meal to Tenpou and set the other one down. “I’m gonna hit the hot springs,” he rasped. Everything hurt. His throat hurt. His arms and hands hurt. The muscles in his thighs and calves hurt. His dick hurt. Even his _hair_ fucking hurt. And he smelled terrible.

Tenpou stumbled to his feet and pulled Kenren’s coat around him, gathering up his own clothes as he came upon them. He staggered after Kenren, and sank into the hot water with a hiss of relief.

Kenren got in and mercilessly scrubbed at his skin and hair. The spring had a rock ledge carved into it, and they sat there and soaked. It took about an hour before Kenren felt even half-alive. He sneaked a look a Tenpou, his head inclined back over the edge of the pool, possibly sleeping. His hair drifted idly in the current of the pool’s overflow. He was covered with bruises, a particularly livid hickey blossomed at the base of his throat, and his mouth was swollen. He started to slip beneath the surface of the water, and Kenren reached across and grabbed him before he could sink.

Tenpou knocked his hand away, his eyes narrow and murderous, his mouth a tight line. Kenren had seen kinder expressions from Tenpou right before he brought his _katana_ slicing down on an opponent, and he immediately lurched back to his own side of the pool. Tenpou closed his eyes again.

He thought about the things he had done to Tenpou, the things he had made Tenpou do, and if his gun had been near he would have shot himself.

“When we get back, I’ll hand in my resignation,” he finally said. His voice almost sounded normal.

“Don’t be stupid,” murmured Tenpou. He didn’t open his eyes, but the frown lines between his brows grew deeper.

“You bet,” said Kenren, and got out of the pool. He reclaimed his coat, returned to the dais, and choked down his MRE.

*****

Some of their clothes were in fairly bad shape after all was said and done, and he never did locate his gloves. They got dressed as best as they could, and headed out.

He emptied and refilled his canteens at a little spring he found as they walked, drinking as much of the cool, sweet water as he could. He handed Tenpou a tin cup and waited while he drank his fill. He felt a lot better after that, more in control.

The road was in fairly bad repair, somewhat overgrown and the cobbles kicked up and missing. They had to watch their step so they didn’t turn an ankle, but it was a lot better than attempting to walk through the scrub and brush lining the hills. They made pretty good time, and had gone about 5 miles down the road before Kenren glanced over at Tenpou, pale and drawn, a light sheen of sweat over the bridge of his nose.

He fought down an almost overpowering surge of lust, and lengthened his stride. It didn’t help much, because he could still hear Tenpou, could still smell him in all his Tenpou-ness. And _all_ things considered, he also just looked fucking edible. Kenren would never tell him so, but Tenpou wearing his uniform pushed all his buttons so fucking hard. He was also a huge fan of that formal scholarly get-up that Tenpou wore to banquets and stuff, looking so demure and unattainable--

He forced that mental image from his unruly brain, gritted his teeth and forged on. _One foot in front of the other_ , he thought. _That’s all I have to do. Until we find the end of this fucking road._ And he mentally begged that divine asshole Fei Lian to switch up the wind a bit so the Tenpou-scent would quit making him feel so over-the-top wild and edgy. But it was really fucking hard—no, it was impossible-- to banish the memory of Tenpou on his knees sounding so fucking _grateful_ , and yeah, that really wasn’t helping him concentrate on just walking, either.

They slogged on in silence for another mile or so. Kenren’s palms grew increasingly bloody from his nails biting into the skin there, even through the toughness of his calluses. It hurt, a lot, but didn’t actually distract him much from his growing urgency to nail Tenpou to the ground.

Tenpou’s flying tackle and grapple came as almost a relief.

*****

“Maybe it’s worse if you try to resist it,” suggested Tenpou. He was a little breathless, his face still flushed pink.

Since that was the first non-terse sentence Tenpou had spoken to him since all this shit had begun, Kenren couldn’t help but accept it as an olive branch of sorts. Or an ice-breaker, anyway.

He laughed and threw his arm over his face. It was either that, or start destroying things, and maybe that wasn’t really such a terrible idea after all. “That’s really super-peachy! We can fuck every couple of miles or so and keep the edge off.”

“Well,” said Tenpou judiciously, “I don’t think it will keep the edge off. The edge seems to be there regardless. But I think it might make it not so… intense.” His hands traced over the ridges of Kenren’s ribs and down and across his hipbones.

Kenren turned on his side and really looked at Tenpou, with his fine features and pretty mouth. Tenpou’s fingers continued their exploration of his anatomy. It was amazing how he seemed to know just where to touch Kenren for maximum impact. He tried to concentrate, but it was becoming more difficult to do so. “I don’t understand this. We were cursed, obviously, but I have no idea why. That humming sound is gone, but practically the last thing I heard before we were teleported was almost like words, like it was saying something. And it was _majorly_ pissed off.”

“Mmm. I don’t know. That statue looked like—”

“Yeah, but this is some sort of freaky shit, even for her.”

“I am not at all certain it _was_ her.”

“This whole thing is fucked up.” He fell back and Tenpou continued the many interesting things he was doing with his hands, things that were making Kenren twitch a little despite himself.

“I have to admit, this isn’t how I anticipated this expedition unfolding.” Tenpou turned from where he was lying half sprawled on Kenren, and looked at him with such an apologetically rueful expression that Kenren laughed again, a real laugh this time, and after a second Tenpou did also.

“All right, fine. We can try it, I guess. Let’s clean up, and keep walking. I have four MREs left. We’d better hope we manage to fuck our way back to our campsite before we run out of food.”

Tenpou tightened his leg around Kenren’s thigh until their hips touched and smiled down at him, flushed and pretty; his arms wound around Kenren’s shoulders and pulled him close. “In that case, one for the road? One should always test one’s hypotheses, don’t you agree?”

“Haha. Definitely.” He thought a moment. “‘Opportunities multiply as they are seized.’”

Tenpou laughed. “Ah Kenren. ‘“Let things flow naturally forward, in whatever way they like.’”

*****

The road ended at a sort of rocky cul-de-sac at the base of a rocky cliff; whatever was here wasn’t a village or settlement at all. As they stood at the base of the cliff, he could see dark spots in the cliff face that were probably caves, and entrances into the interior face that were definitely caves of some sort.

The sun was beginning to set almost directly ahead of them, behind the hills. The road they had followed must have curved around a bit as it descended out of the hills, because Kenren could finally hear the river he had seen only as flashes of silvery light off in the distance.

“Let’s camp here for the night,” Tenpou suggested. He looked drawn and exhausted, and Kenren didn’t feel much better. It turned out to be true that not fighting the impulses had made them less difficult, but that didn’t mean they were uncomplicated and untaxing. Kenren still wasn’t sure how he felt about the whole situation, but he definitely didn’t like that what he thought about it and what he wanted to do didn’t seem to enter into how it played out in the slightest. He imagined Tenpou had similar misgivings, but he was kind enough not to voice them.

But whatever. He hated brooding about shit as if he were some sort of emo kid, and this was obviously something that wasn’t going to be solved at this point in time.

“I’ll get some water if you get some wood.” Tenpou stared at him, the corner of his mouth quirked up. “For a _fire_ , sheesh. And everyone says I’m the pervert.”

He wandered down to the river and washed up as best he could and then drank until the lightheaded feeling that had nagged at him the last few miles mostly receded, filling up his canteens to take back to camp. Maybe early in the morning he could get a fish or two; they were almost out of pre-made meals.

Tenpou had gathered up some firewood, although he hadn’t actually lit a fire. He was poring over the map.

“We should be able to get back to the pick-up site by tomorrow if the scale of this map holds true,” he said. “But they aren’t scheduled to pick us up for another four days. Still, if we can get to our packs I can send up an emergency request to deploy the teleportal.”

“All righty,” said Kenren. “So that’s two days away: a day to the pickup, half a day to where we left our packs, and half a day back.” He tossed a canteen to Tenpou and watched while he gulped down the cool river water. “Think there are any animals in those caves we need to worry about? They seem pretty big.”

“No, I think we have nothing at all to worry about, actually. This whole area strikes me as… sort of like a memorial garden, or something held sacred and separate, encased in a protective bubble of divine power. And we popped the bubble. But I don’t think there’s been any time for anything to move to fill the vacuum it left.”

“I’m not so sure about that. It seems more like a trap to me. I’m telling you, that voice, that humming sound, was _furious._ ”

“Mmm. Well, maybe it was angry we had disturbed it, but it could be both a memorial and a trap, really. There’s no reason I can think of why those things would be mutually exclusive. And whatever divine essence powered it discharged when it exploded and teleported us. Or at least I think so. Do you feel anything unusual anymore?” He glanced at Kenren.

“Nah. The humming noise is gone, and I haven’t heard or felt a peep since.”

Kenren set up the fire and handed Tenpou a ration. They settled down for the night as best they could.

*****

They managed to retrieve their packs without much difficulty. Kenren scaled the tower bluff, but the crazy visual distortion that had affected him the last time he had been up there no longer existed. All he could see was normal leaves and branches blowing gently in a normal breeze. He also couldn’t see the tops of the shrine buildings poking through the tree canopy. He supposed they must all have collapsed, but he didn’t care enough to want to go and check.

They hiked back to the pick-up, and Tenpou used his emergency recall, and they went home. There were some concerned glances as to their physical state, but for once his rank came in handy for avoiding overly nosy questions. He used his version of Goujun’s haughtiest expression to deflect any impertinence, and it seemed to work pretty well. He’d have to remember that. Tenpou and he parted company.

And that was that.

*****

The first thing Kenren did when they returned to Heaven was to shower in blissfully hot water and take a long sleep uninterrupted by fervent kisses and entwined bodies. That particular aspect felt odd, actually.

The problem was he had work to do, especially after nearly a week away. And work meant being around Tenpou and potentially all the difficulties that entailed. Sure, he could hold off going back to his office a day or two; probably the men would be up for some training of some sort. They enjoyed running around and doing things as much as he did. But sooner or later he’d have to touch base with Tenpou.

Rather than either seeing Tenpou or engaging in training exercises, he changed clothes started running laps around the base’s track. The fact that he was literally running in circles seemed apt enough, he though wryly. But maybe he could make himself tired enough that he wouldn’t have to keep thinking about all this crap.

Kenren liked running: liked the way the wind felt on his face, liked the way his body felt as he ran, liked the process of one foot in front of another, liked the tired feeling he got after a good workout. This run wasn’t having that effect on him at all; he ran for an hour or so, and instead of a good, bone-deep weariness, he felt just as vaguely unsettled and restless when he was finished as he had when he started.

He cut his eyes over to the officers’ office buildings and the window to Tenpou’s suite, but he couldn’t make any details out. He wondered what Tenpou was up to. Hopefully research on their little problem.  And hopefully he was doing better than Kenren was.

He sighed, took a shower and went out to review the men.

That worked for the first day back.

*****

The easiest way out of the whole situation, he thought, would be to do exactly what he had told Tenpou he was going to do, and request a transfer. Maybe the Northern Army would have him. He had heard good things about them. He’d see Tenpou and the men only at joint training sessions, once a year or so. And that seemed so fundamentally wrong that he could hardly bear it. And the idea of being away from everyone and everything he had come to know and give a shit about in the Western Army was almost unthinkable. But he did think about it, and decided it was for the best for everyone.

So the second thing he did once he got back was to write his request for transfer and wend his way over to Commander Goujun’s office. He took the long way around so he wouldn’t meet anyone he knew; he had no desire to stop and chitchat.

He knocked on the door, and Goujun’s deep voice telling him to enter was one of the most welcome sounds he had ever heard. Maybe this was going to be easier than he had expected; at least he wasn’t going to have to track Goujun down, which ordinarily would have been a distinct possibility. Having to make an appointment would have been worse. He wasn’t sure he could endure waiting.

Goujun was seated at his desk, his fingers steepled in front of him. He expression was pensive, and Kenren was a little taken aback when he said, “Have a seat, Kenren _Taishou_. What can I help you with?”

Goujun’s attitude and aspect usually pre-expressed his exasperation with Kenren, but he seemed to be in a decent mood, for once. Kenren wondered, a bit wildly, if someone had unwedged the stick up his ass… but best not to dwell on that. He didn’t want to annoy Goujun before he had even started this conversation.

He tried to hand his letter to Goujun, but he stared at it and then regarded Kenren with an unreadable expression. He didn’t take it, and Kenren finally laid it on the desk in front of him. “Here. I am officially requesting a transfer.” 

“Indeed.” Goujun rose from his seat, majestically, of course, and stood in front of his office window. The view was cloudless blue skies and _sakura_ blossoms weeping from the trees, the same as it always was, but it was a pretty sight. The same as it always was.

“Yeah. So if you could take a look at it and sign off, I’ll be on my way.”

“I was under the impression that Tenpou _Gensui_ was who you’d need to sign off on any request of that nature.”

“I would prefer not to bother him. Sir.” Kenren was starting to feel a little sick and tense; he had figured that Goujun would almost literally leap at the chance to see him out and away from the Western Army. This hesitation was not what he had expected. He couldn’t help but fidget a little, waiting for Goujun just to sign the damn thing so he could pack his shit up and leave. But no, Goujun was exhibiting unexpected hints of sadism. Kenren should have figured he couldn’t possibly have been as self-denying as he let everyone think.

“Might I be privileged to know the reason for your desire for a transfer?” From anyone else that would have sounded a lot like sarcasm, but it couldn’t possibly be that from Goujun. Kenren couldn’t see Goujun’s face, but the tone was as dry as ever. Nope, there was no possibility of stick-removal there.

“I… would rather not say.” He was definitely starting to sweat, and he couldn’t understand why Goujun was torturing him rather than just signing the damn document.

“Have you had some sort of altercation with Tenpou _Gensui_? Is there a situation concerning him—or yourself-- of which I should be aware?” Goujun folded his hands behind his back, still staring out the damn window.

“What? No! Of course not!” His tone was a lot more indignant than he had intended, and he tried to dial it back a bit. “Sir,” he added carefully.

“Then I am afraid I cannot sign off on your request. Denied.” He turned around and sat at his desk, and pulled a stack of paperwork towards himself and began working on it.

“What?! You can’t-- You know what. Fine.” Kenren ripped open his letter and amended it slightly. “Here. I’m resigning.” He tossed it back down in front of Goujun.

“Denied.” Goujun didn’t even look up, much less pick up his resignation and look at it. Apparently his paperwork was too fascinating, Kenren thought, seething.

“You can’t deny a resignation!”

“I think you might be very surprised at what I can and can’t do, General. I certainly can deny it, until either you or Tenpou can explain to me why both of you have come here requesting a transfer and/or a resignation.”

“Wait, Tenpou’s been here?” He paused. “That idiot,” he muttered. “He can’t resign; that’s ridiculous.”

Goujun made a sound that Kenren realized was supposed to be a derisive laugh. He looked up at Kenren, his red eyes intent. “I will not permit either of you to fall on your swords for no good reason. You are both officers of the Western Army. I expect you to act like it. In my estimation of our strengths and capabilities, the Western Army would be much the poorer for your loss.”

“What! You can’t stand me! Sir.” It actually took Kenren a minute to process and respond to Goujun’s comment; he thought he must have heard it incorrectly.

Goujun snorted. “If you say so, Kenren _Taishou_. It appears you are laboring under a significant number of misapprehensions, as usual, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to disabuse you. I’ll expect you at reveille tomorrow.”

Commander Goujun. Sir. Please.” He couldn’t stand how desperate he sounded, and in fact Goujun raised an eyebrow. His expression was actually… strangely sympathetic.

“My recommendation at this time is for you and Tenpou to resolve whatever problems the two of you have.”

“But—”

“You are dismissed, Kenren _Taishou_.”

“Sir,” Kenren ground out. He snapped off a beautifully-formed salute in lieu of a beautifully-formed middle finger, and stalked out.

*****

He needed a drink. And maybe punching someone would be good too. He got the one at the seedy bar where all this shit had started, before Tenpou decided they needed to a break Down Below. The whole thing was almost laughable in retrospect. Yeah, he was totally sure that one day he’d look back on all this and laugh his ass off.

He’d gotten his drink, but he hadn’t yet gotten a bar fight. But the night was young, and he was still hopeful.

He’d been there a couple of hours, just thinking about things, which he generally disliked. Not that he couldn’t do it when he had to, but thinking deep and convoluted thoughts about stuff was Tenpou’s job, and he was better at it than Kenren. Kenren was a lot better at action rather than wasting time considering every repercussion of every action like some people. But then again, that was what made his partnership with Tenpou so— and there he was, thinking about _things_ again. He took a gulp of his drink.

The waitress smiled at him flirtatiously, her eyes modestly lowered, but her yellow cotton robe fortuitously gaped open at the neck as she leaned over to refill his drink. She had pretty boobs, too.

She glanced over at the barkeep and back at him. “I get off work in an hour,” she murmured, and straightened up, her hips swinging as she walked away.

“Good to know,” Kenren said. He was feeling a little misty, and he mentally thanked all the gods of fermentation and alcohol.

No bar fights having presented themselves, he drank up and waited for the waitress to get off work.

“My place is around the corner, if you’d care for some conversation,” she said, and grinned up at him as he nodded and stood. He helped her with her jacket, and followed her out.

Her place was a little apartment, and she didn’t waste much time with unnecessary preliminaries or sweet-talk-- which was fine with Kenren-- standing on her tiptoes and kissing him. Her lips were soft and inviting against his mouth; she tasted sweet. Her robe fell open again, and he could see all the way down her front. She really was a beauty, and just his type too, with her long, dark hair, high cheekbones and plump lips. Her knee travelled slowly up his leg to his hip to give him better access, and he obliged her, sliding his hand down between her legs and into the slickness of her folds, rubbing and caressing until she slumped weak-kneed and moaning against him. He palmed her ass to steady her; toppling to the floor was not particularly sexy in his opinion. At least his dick was finally becoming a little interested, but this whole encounter felt as if he were watching it happen to someone else: a not particularly exciting porno.

He cupped the weight of her breast and deepened their kiss, his tongue teasing the corners of her mouth, thumbing and lightly pinching at her nipple. She moaned into his mouth, her hands reaching into his coat and pulling it off his shoulders and over his hips to let it fall on the floor. She made to trace over the skeleton-head clasp that Tenpou had given him, but he grabbed her hand away and kissed her fingers, nipping at the pads of her fingertips.

“Bed, darlin’ ?”

She kissed down his jaw and down the column his throat, and tugged him along after her. They tumbled together on her bed, soft and sweet-smelling just like she was, and when they were done she snuggled up against him and snoozed, her little hand curled over his shoulder.

He stared off into space, wide awake, and wished he were anywhere but there.

*****

Tenpou had delivered him a note at his apartment telling him he expected to see him first thing that morning. Fortunately he had left the girl—Jiao’s—apartment early to change his clothes and wash up, and he intercepted the fresh-faced private Tenpou apparently liked sending around with messages for Kenren.

He made his way over to the offices. It was still quite early, and he didn’t meet many people on the way. He was going to miss reveille and a cozy review of the men with Goujun, he thought a little spitefully. Goujun’d probably bust Kenren’s chops, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care much. He couldn’t be in two places at once, and with any luck Tenpou had been working on their little problem for the last two days.

He knocked on the door and entered, and immediately wished he hadn’t. It wasn’t just the sight of Tenpou slumped over a pile of papers on his desk, deep asleep and snoring slightly. His cigarette was precariously perched on the lip of the frog ashtray, still smoldering slightly. He’d seen that tableau any number of times over the years, although he had to admit to being a little concerned about the fact that Tenpou was asleep when he’d specifically called Kenren to a meeting.

No, it was the fact that the entire room was absolutely suffused with Tenpou-ness. He immediately fled and slammed the door shut. He pounded on the door with his fist. “OI!! Tenpou! Open the goddamn windows!” He didn’t hear anything moving in there—although one of the morning cleaning crew eyed him curiously-- and sighed.

He could still make reveille if he ran all the way back.

Instead, he re-entered and locked the door.

He threw open the windows, and perched on the sill and lit a cigarette, taking a look around Tenpou’s office. How he’d managed to shit it up after only two days back was a mystery to Kenren. He’d have to straighten it up later.

And fuck it, he could tell it was already way too late to not be affected by whatever was going on between him and Tenpou; sitting next to the open window was doing sweet F.A. at this point. Lust spiked hard in his guts every time his gaze swept over Tenpou, sleeping or not.

*****

Tenpou’s bedroom was actually part of a suite of offices he’d annexed years earlier, and it wasn’t much effort to half drag, half carry Tenpou back there. Sure, there was crap all over the bed, but Tenpou clearly slept there so Kenren assumed he was used to it.

He had to force himself not to start peeling his clothes off.

He was beginning to think he could get out of there without succumbing to his own lust, barely, but Tenpou opened one hazy purple eye and just smiled at him, and then both of them were caught up in a flurry of arms and legs and searching hands.

“Hey,” he said somewhat later. “Sex in a bed!” He shoved a book onto the floor and peeled some crumpled document off his leg. He looked at it, and threw that on the floor too. “Although this meeting you asked for. That’s some suspiciously awesome timing on your part, Tenpou.”

Tenpou wrapped the sheet around his waist and reached for a cigarette. “Well. I… admittedly was curious if the effect had lessened somewhat with the lack of proximity.” He blew out a stream of smoke.

“Doubt it will lessen if you leave the fucking windows closed so the catnip builds up.”

“Catnip?” Tenpou laughed quietly.

“Yeah, you’re fucking catnip. But I don’t think it would have mattered, honestly. The curse kicked in again pretty much as soon as I walked in and saw you.”

“Hmmm. Interesting. It didn’t seem as violent this time around, though.” He stretched, and Kenren followed the line of lean muscle shifting across that flat stomach. Arousal spiked again, and he suppressed a groan. The corner of Tenpou’s mouth quirked up.

 _Cocktease_ , he thought. “I wasn’t fighting it. I just wasn’t here. Not much for the curse to get mad about, I guess.”

“Do you want to fight it?” Tenpou looked curious.

“Eh. Yeah, I’d still try to resist if there was a point to it, or if it mattered in the slightest. I don’t like that I can’t say no. I _really_ don’t like that you can’t say no. I don’t like that saying no makes it a lot harder on both of us. I don’t like that it feels all wrong and pretty bad if it _isn’t_ you.” Tenpou blinked at him, but Kenren rushed on. “And I really, _really_ hate that some bitch is pulling my strings and making me dance and I have no choice in the matter, and I don’t even know who she is, or why. It’s like I have a collar and leash on, and I don’t know who’s holding the other end and jerking me along. And don’t tell me you don’t hate it too. I don’t know what part of it you hate the most, but I don’t believe you aren’t plotting a hideous revenge.” He laughed a little and scrubbed at his face. “Just let me help, that’s all I ask.”

“Well… I admit to some fantasies in that area, it’s true. It’s quite interesting that it’s targeted the parts of ourselves that we hold most important, though.” His mouth tightened, and Kenren couldn’t bring himself to ask.

“Well, anyway, seems like the not-fighting-it hypothesis checked out, anyway. Next time just say you want to try something.” He sneaked a glance a Tenpou. He looked fucking terrible, really, as if he hadn’t rested or eaten at all since they got back.

“I am fairly certain that would impact the results of my tests,” Tenpou was saying.

“Eh. Worry about it later. Go to sleep, you look all in,” Kenren said.

“No! Not yet. I found some information. The buttons you found gave me the idea to look in some of the old military archives. The Southern Army conducted a campaign against a small nation of _youkai._ What was interesting about them was that they were shapeshifters.”

“Werewolves? Something else? I don’t think I have heard of any _youkai_ like that. Huh.”

“Well, as it turns out, there’s a reason for that.” Tenpou settled back and gestured animatedly with his cigarette.

“I found the general order for their eradication,” Tenpou continued. “Reading between the lines, there apparently was some concern about their being able to infiltrate Heaven without being detected. What’s interesting about the order is that it’s unsigned. So I can’t tell who ordered it, I can’t tell who sent it, and I can’t tell who received it. As far as I can determine, the entire campaign is basically a footnote of a footnote. I was only able to track it because I correlated the mapped movements of the Southern Army around that time with the descriptions of their campaigns. Some of the descriptions and the maps didn’t add up properly, so I surmise that someone went back and amended the record. But we do know there _was_ a campaign, because we saw the results, and apparently this tribe was utterly exterminated. And the map—the reason I had such difficulty with it is because it’s an old military cipher. I knew I recognized some of those symbols. It didn’t tell us anything new or interesting, but I did manage to finish translating it, once I figured that out.”

“So now what?”

“Now we try and figure out who the goddess in the shrine was, and what her connection with the Southern Army is.”

*****

The Merciful Goddess commonly held audiences with her admirers in a downsized version of the throne room. It was still pretty impressive, even by Heavenly standards. The filigree throne was the centerpiece of the room, carefully placed for maximum impact on a white marble-stepped dais. She was currently seated on her throne, her shapely legs crossed at the knee. There was no one else in the room when they arrived, and she seemed to be in deep conversation with Lord Jiroushin, who was holding a tray with two tea cups and a pot of tea. They both stopped talking and watched as Kenren and Tenpou advanced into the room.

The Goddess smiled cheerfully at them. Lord Jiroushin set the tea down on a little scrolled table next to the throne and strategically retreated after a quick bow in their general direction. She gave him a careless wave; the bangles on her arms jingled brightly and surprisingly loudly. She adjusted the sheer cloth over her bounteous bosom and propped her chin in her hand. Her eyes were very bright, and mischievous.

“Tenpou _Gensui_. And Kenren _Taishou_! What a delightful surprise. What brings you to this wing of the palace?”

Tenpou stepped forward. “Kanzeon Bosatsu. We had some questions in need of answers, and wondered if you perhaps might have those answers.”

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Well, I won’t know until I hear the question. But in exchange, I’m in need of a little quid pro quo. What’s in this for Me, you might be wondering.”

Tenpou stopped at the base of the first step, his expression inscrutable. “I wasn’t actually. What do you want in exchange?”

She leaned back on her throne and regarded him with a bit of a smirk. “It seems to me that we had much this same conversation not so long ago, and our positions were reversed. And, as I recall, at that time you told me you didn’t have time to attend to my request.”

“That is an accurate summary, yes,” Tenpou said tiredly.

“Well. You’re the one who wants a favor, Tenpou. What’s your offer?” She was entirely too cheerful and a little coy.

“I suppose you want me to grovel out an apology on bended knee?” Tenpou sounded sarcastic, but the Goddess’ expression instantly turned from impish to a little malicious.

“If that’s what you want to offer Me. We’ll see if it’s enough for this favor you want.”

Kenren snorted. “Oh for fuck’s sake. You two.” He had no idea why the cat-and-mouse games between Tenpou and the Goddess, but they all had enough to worry about without this sort of crap. It was just more Heavenly politics, and while both Tenpou and Kanzeon lived on that shit like it was the air they breathed, Kenren gave not one fuck about any of it. He pushed past Tenpou and gracefully folded to his knees in front of the Bosatsu. He looked up at her through his lashes and smoldered at her with his sexiest smile.

She glanced down at him, the corner of her mouth quirked up in amusement. “Very fetching. But always a little too eager to help him wriggle off the hook, Kenren. You should watch that.” Her fingers tapped on the arm of the throne.

He stood up and grinned. “If you say so. But maybe we could all get down to business. I don’t recall seeing or hearing about any favors you needed. What was it you wanted? Maybe I can help with it.”

“Mmmm. You’re such a nice boy, Kenren. All right. I’ll trade a favor for a favor. I still need those reports analyzed, Tenpou. I’ll send them to Konzen.” She leaned forward again. Kenren could see clear down the mostly non-existent front of her robe, or whatever it was. Her mouth curved, and he wrenched his gaze upwards to her face. He couldn’t help being distracted when her merciful bosoms were right there in front of his eyes.

“Now, how can I help you?” she said.

Tenpou scratched the back of his neck. “Mmm. Well. It’s a bit of a story. We went down below about a week and a half ago,” he said. “And we came across a shrine with a statue that bore some similarities to your own manifestation of divinity, if not entirely as you are now. But it was several hundred years old, so that isn’t too unusual. There were some differences. For example, the goddess in the shrine was holding a spindle in one hand, and a spinning wheel in the other, and I don’t think those are part of any of your spheres of interest.” He looked inquiringly at the Bosatsu, who was frowning a little as she listened.

“I’ve never been the domestic type, Tenpou.”

Tenpou nodded. “The statue looked like you, though, in the face and garments. And the pose was similar to other statues I have seen representing you, along with some of the other shrine elements. At any rate, I reached out to it to brush the dust off it and see if I could read the inscription. And then something happened. There was a magical discharge, and both Kenren and I were teleported into an area in the hills beyond the shrine. At that time some sort of curse was placed on us.”

“Really.” The Goddess leaned back in her throne. “What’s the curse?”

“I’d prefer not to say.” Tenpou flicked a piece of lint off his labcoat. His cheeks were lightly flushed. “But the favor we’d like is for you to take a look at one of us and see if it is something you can remove. Maybe the statue was of one of your avatars?”

She grinned. “How very interesting. Well then, let’s see.” She stood up and stretched, and then wrapped her arm around Kenren’s neck and began kissing him, her other hand curved around his cheek. He straightened in surprise, but her kiss deepened and she held him fast in her embrace.

Whatever he had imagined a kiss from the Merciful Goddess might be like it was not this. He had expected casual carelessness; maybe he’d thought she’d even be a bit cavalier. But her hair smelled of incense and sandalwood, the scent rising up around them, and her fingers twisted in the hair at the back of his head. Her tongue touched his: gentle exploration, tender and thoughtful, even affectionate, not an intrusion. Her lips were very soft and searching, and when he kissed her back (because he was an officer and a gentleman after all) she moaned a little bit into his mouth. He wound his arm up between her shoulders and cradled her head, until she broke away.

He could feel Tenpou bristling next to them, but he didn’t say anything. Kenren heard him light a cigarette, and the scent of smoke drifted over them.

The Goddess’ eyes were starry. “My!” Her voice was still lightly mocking, but she sounded a little breathless, and then laughed. “Be careful, your true face is showing, Tenpou _Gensui_.” She sat back on the throne and crossed her legs. “Well, good news and bad news. I had nothing to do with anything that is going on with you, so I can’t remove it. There are lots of Me wannabes out there. Maybe your mystery goddess was one of them.” She waved an airy hand.

Tenpou nodded and took a deep drag of his cigarette. “I thought it might be a long shot.” He turned to go.

“I didn’t say I couldn’t help you. That’s the good news. Jiroshin’s niece is a very talented seer. She might be able to figure out how to remove the spell. I suggest you go see her. Jiro can give you directions.”

Kenren joined Tenpou at the base of the steps. “I need you to take a look at those reports, Tenpou.” Her voice had taken on a steely note, but her expression was still cheerful.

“Oh, believe me, I won’t forget, Lord Bosatsu.” That sounded a lot like one of Tenpou’s patented double-edged comments to Kenren, but the Goddess’ grin didn’t waver in the slightest.

“Let me know how everything turns out!” She winked at Kenren, and then they left.

*****

Jiroushin’s niece, Lady Hitomi, lived on the edges of one of the more far-flung suburbs of the Heavenly City. Getting there involved a fairly lengthy walk, and both of them were tired by the time they arrived at a little wooden house, set like a jewel in a tranquil garden, rocks and raked gravel carefully edging the flower-lined path to the house. A little water fountain clacked and filled over and over, spilling water into a little stream. He halfway hoped and expected to see dragonflies flitting around, but that would have been an unwelcome sign of chaos in Heaven. Insects and non-divine animals were quite rare.

They knocked and entered the dimly-lit recesses of Lady Hitomi’s home. She beckoned them deeper into the house, into a room with a lit hearth, and a painted porcelain pot of tea brewing, the good stuff, Kenren could tell from the scent. Plush cotton pillows festooned with colorful embroidered dragons and phoenixes lay on the floor in front of the low table.

Lady Hitomi gestured them to sit, and poured them tea through a strainer into delicate little porcelain cups. She folded gracefully to her knees and arranged her robes around her.

“I apologize for the informality of my service,” she said, and picked up her cup, cradling it in both hands. “Please, drink. And then tell me what I can do for you.”

Kenren looked at her while he sipped his tea. He could clearly see was a familial resemblance to Jiroushin: the angular cheekbones, the pointed chin, the wide mouth. They both sported that elaborate marking on their forehead, right between their dark eyes. Even their expressions were similar: kindly and vaguely worried. Jiroushin chose to present himself as an older man, but Lady Hitomi’s appearance was of a woman somewhat, but not much, older than he and Tenpou. Her long black hair was carefully coiffed and pinned with gold combs, and her robes were unadorned ivory silk.

Tenpou took a quick sip of tea, and then a second, savoring it a little longer. He flicked a quick glance at Kenren. “We’ve been cursed, and we’d like to be _un_ cursed. We have an idea why, but we’re not sure how to resolve it, or if it’s even possible to resolve it. Kanzeon Bosatsu suggested you might be able to help.”

“I see. Do you know what I do?”

“She said you were a seer. I presume you have some sort of divination ability.”

“No, that’s not it at all. My gift is to see things that are hidden--it’s not a divination. I have the ability to, for lack of a better term, trace through memories and read a person: their life, their desires, their hidden secrets; everything that has ever happened to them. It’s a long, intensive, exhausting procedure, and at the end of it, I will _know_ everything about you, and everything you ever dreamed or thought or felt.”

She took a small sip of tea and her black eyes regarded them serenely. “If you are concerned about my knowledge of anything I might find out, I am magically prohibited from disclosing anything I learn from this procedure. I would literally die before being able to disclose anything. Your secrets are safe with me.”

He and Kenren looked at each other in dismay and Tenpou’s eyes widened. He set his cup on the table with a little clack. “I don’t know—” he began.

“I do,” said Kenren. He scowled down at his tea and wished he dared light up a cig and chug down his booze. “We… _I_ can’t keep on like this. And at least we won’t have to explain it. She can read me. I don’t care if she knows all my _secrets_. I just want this thing to end.”

“Aren’t both of you cursed?” asked Lady Hitomi.

“Yeah,” said Kenren. He glanced at Tenpou; his long fingers were clenched white around his cup. “But maybe if you figure out what’s wrong with me first, it will be easy to fix Tenpou.”

“Is this your wish as well, Tenpou _Gensui_?”

Tenpou sighed. “‘A skilled commander seeks victory from the situation and does not demand it of his subordinates.’”

“Horseshit. I said I’d do it. You don’t have to--”

“ ‘Silence is a source of great strength,’ _Taishou_.” He turned to Lady Hitomi.

“Tenpou, goddammit,” Kenren snarled. “Uh… ‘The enlightened ruler is heedful,’” he threw out wildly. Tenpou actually being serious in this sort of poet-quoting mood was him at his most irritating. Mostly because he knew Kenren was pretty crap at it, despite their making a game of it occasionally, so right now it was something meant to keep him off-balance trying to figure out what the hell Tenpou was talking about while he did whatever it was he originally intended. Kenren was going to fucking _burn_ Tenpou’s Sun Tzu and Laozi scrolls the next time he came across them.

Tenpou smiled politely, as if offering a token compliment for a decent effort, and opened his mouth again.

Lady Hitomi cleared her throat with a delicate cough and regarded both of them quizzically. “If both of you are agreed to the procedure, I think it would be best if I worked with both of you. Your energies are unbalanced separately, I can see that already. It may make things needlessly difficult.” She took both of their hands. “You will need to complete the circle.”

“Yeah, together then. Quit making me look bad, Tenpou.” That at least made Tenpou’s eyes crinkle with amusement, and he finally shut up. Kenren grabbed Tenpou’s hand before he could cause more difficulties.

Her black eyes fluttered shut, and then the mark on her forehead rippled, and her Third Eye opened wide in its place. And then he could feel a presence sifting around inside his head: crawling around, following this strand of memory, that trail of thought, teasing at that emotion. The really horrible thing was that he was pretty sure process was exactly what it would feel like to have someone actually run their fingers through his brain while he was awake to feel it.

It didn’t hurt, exactly, but it felt so invasive and repellant and _wrong_ it was almost nauseating. Every now and then he could hear Tenpou suppress a gasp, and he knew he must have been making noise as well, although he tried to stifle it. He bit his lip, hard, and he could taste the copper-iron of blood. Their joined hands clutched together under the table. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to wrench his hand away and fling himself back, and it took nearly all his strength just to sit and endure.

And it went on, and on, and on, until he lost track of time entirely.

Finally she spoke, and her voice was weak and oddly distant. “I see it now… very interesting. Both of you are interesting. You are aware you are bound with red thread, yes? And not just a loop or two. But that’s not the curse. Or, not a curse really.”

“Are we at the end of this stage of this operation?” Kenren heard Tenpou grit out.

“Oh, yes, I’m sorry. I can find all this again if need be. I should warn you, we may have to do some more work. I found a couple of... unusual things.” She dropped their hands, and Kenren was alone in his head once again, and everything was blessedly still. “We’ll take a break, and I’ll make some fresh tea.”

Kenren rose and went outside and sat on a stone bench in the garden, lighting up a cigarette as soon as he exited the house. The smoke burned his throat as he inhaled and it didn’t help calm him much, but it was at least a familiar discomfort. Tenpou joined him about five seconds later, and they smoked in silence for a few minutes. Kenren took a huge swig from his hip flask and passed it over to Tenpou.

“So, did she find out anything juicy from you?” asked Kenren after a moment. The whole procedure must have been especially excruciating for Tenpou, with his guarded and secretive nature.

“Probably. You?”

“Haha. Probably.”

Tenpou exhaled and the scent of Ark Royal drifted over Kenren. “What are we going to do if this doesn’t work?”

“You’re asking _me_?” He thought about it. “Dunno. Guess we could shack up if you’d be down for that. That’d probably help with some aspects of this situation.” Now he thought about it, that didn’t seem like the worst idea in the world in any case. Funny how even a few weeks ago the very thought of it would have made him almost literally break out in hives. “Realistically, I don’t see how we could continue to work together. We’d never get any work done.” He scowled. “I don’t know how I’d resign my commission since Goujun is being a dick about things, but I’d figure something out.”

“Is that what you want to do?” Tenpou ground out the butt of the cigarette with the toe of his boot.

“Nope. But I don’t want to work for anyone else. I’d rather do something else entirely if it came to that.”

Tenpou regarded him curiously. “You sound as if you have devoted some thought to this after all.”

“Not really. But you know. Like your hero said, ‘He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious.’”

Tenpou smiled. “Sun Tzu was a wise man. But Kenren. I don’t want you to resign your commission. In fact, I order you not to.” He ignored Kenren’s snort. “You shouldn’t be the one to suffer because of my carelessness.”

“I am wondering if I should ‘pretend inferiority and encourage your arrogance.’ ”

“Stop that.”

“Fine. I am running out of quotes anyway. But first of all, what makes you think I am suffering? Second of all, worry about yourself.”

“But Kenren—”

“No, listen. Sometimes shit just happens, it’s as simple as that.” He took a final dragon on his cigarette, stubbed it out and put it in his pocket.

“Well, I _do_ blame myself.”

“Okay.” Tenpou gave a soft, annoyed huff and Kenren grinned and closed his eyes. He must have snoozed a little because the position of the sun was different than when he had first sat there.

“Tenpou _Gensui_ and Kenren _Taishou_ , the tea is ready, if you have recovered somewhat.” Lady Hitomi held the door open and gestured them inside.

They sat and sipped tea while she spoke. Kenren had no idea what she used for the tea, but she must have put some sort of restorative in it, because he felt half-way decent.

“All right, to business. The magical effect on you is not a curse. It’s a spell, imposed as a divine power.”

“Can you remove it?” asked Tenpou. He took a long, deliberate sip of tea.

“I don’t think so. It doesn’t work like that. A curse I could perhaps remove because it’s unnatural, it shouldn’t exist. It creates something and imposes it. For example, a curse might have made you attack and kill each other. A spell takes something that already exists and works with it. It may exaggerate or twist things, but it isn’t actually creating anything, as such. For that reason, curses are both more powerful in terms of their effects, and easier to remove. It’s a lot easier to find and remove something that clearly shouldn’t be. But a spell is usually much more subtle, and generally speaking, the best person to remove a simple spell is the person who placed it.”

“I see,” said Tenpou.

“You two were already strongly bound together when whatever happened, happened. I see the threads very plainly when I look at you.”

“How did that happen? I am pretty sure I haven’t pissed off Yue Lao, and I can’t think of anyone else who could do that.” Kenren had shared a drink and poetry with the old man under the moon once or twice, but it had always been a fairly friendly interaction, or so he’d thought.

She shrugged. “The threads can happen in any incarnation. Perhaps it was in a past life for both of you. I didn’t see their origins, but I wasn’t looking for that. If it was indeed created in a past life, it is very possible there is no trace in any case.”

There was a long silence. “So we’re stuck like this?” Kenren sighed.

“Well, the center of the spell was quite unusual, like kernel, or a... a hard knot, I guess is the best way to describe it. All the strand of the spell converged in one spot. I’d like to examine it a bit more closely if you agree. It shouldn’t be as grueling for you this time, since I know the location and what I am looking for. I don’t want to make any final pronouncements before I complete the examination.”

“Sure, why not. I’m game.”

“Very well,” said Tenpou.

They clasped hands again, and Kenren felt the phantom fingers sloshing around in his brain again. It was just as gross as the first time. She had fibbed about that part, he thought darkly. It did take less time than before, though, and—

A bright flash of light, and he was standing in the village center, not too far away from the fountain. No one seemed to notice him, either. He tried to move, but he was frozen in place. And he was certain, it _was_ the village they had visited, what seemed like forever ago. He hadn’t been sure for a couple of seconds, because the village wasn’t ruined. The houses ringing the square had flower boxes hanging in the windows. The market stalls were standing, lots of them, the colorful flags denoting their product flying in the warm breeze.

People milled around shopping, gossiping. A couple of old geezers were playing go or something off to the side; kids ran around playing tag and getting underfoot. An old lady sneaked them treats and shooed them off. They were odd people: some looked like most _youkai_ he had seen, with their long ears and spiky bits; others seemed to look half-beast, others were just oddly-proportioned. No one seemed to react as if there was anything unusual in such an assortment of people. The beastly-shaped people moved freely amongst the crowd. Now he looked, he could see a number of very large dogs—or maybe wolves-- lying in the shade, some napping, others standing watch.

And then he heard the sound of hooves and horns, and people began screaming.

FLASH. He was standing in front of the caves at the end of the valley, and a group of women and children were streaming around him and into the entrance of the largest cavern. He could hear whimpering, and mothers softly trying to shush the crying of their babies. An infant screamed, shockingly loud in the midst of the muffled sobbing, and the sound was swiftly smothered.

And then screams again: horses trampling people underfoot, soldiers cutting people down from horseback, the sunlight gleaming off raised swords. He saw some soldiers dismount and run into the caves. And finally there was silence.

The flag of what he assumed was the Heavenly Army of the South flapped in the breeze—he didn’t recognize the insignia-- and a soldier knelt in at the feet of an old man seated on a horse. The old man’s sword hadn’t been drawn, but he was in full, heavily lacquered battle armor. There was a scarlet splash of blood across one of his greaves, shockingly bright and wet. Kenren didn’t recognize the crests on his helmet, either.

“There are no survivors, sir,” said the soldier. He was panting slightly; Kenren couldn’t tell if that was because he was still wound up from the slaughter, or because he was trying hard not to puke. Kenren was struggling himself; the air was foul with the scent of clotting blood.

“Well done, son.” The old man smiled and reached his hand out like a benediction and-- FLASH.

He was standing in front of the shrine, and the priest was lying at the base of the steps, his blood scattered across the sill of the sacred gate. He was one of the strangely proportioned people, muscular and hulking. His strength hadn’t saved him, or even helped him, though. The gardens had been trampled underfoot, the colorful porcelain planters shattered and crushed. The shrine building itself was burning, but even as he watched the flames began to shrink back, until the shrine wasn’t even smoking, and a woman staggered out and fell at his feet. He could see the legs and feet of a soldier protruding from the shrine, and a puddle of blood staining the stairs.

He wanted to aid her and tried to help her stand, but he still couldn’t move. Her face and garb was in fact similar to Kanzeon’s, despite the delicate, pointed _youkai_ ears, and, now he could see her more clearly, her long, long _youkai_ nails and fingers. He had had no idea that the _youkai_ might have their own gods.

Her eyes burned with pain and rage. Someone had run her through; she clutched her hand over the wound even while her blood bubbled over the edge of her hand and flowed down the front of her gown, but she was made of stern stuff, apparently.

“This one cries out for justice and vengeance.” She struggled to her feet, slowly and painfully—it was agonizing for Kenren just to watch her-- and spit blood on the ground. Her voice was the hum of a thousand wheels turning in unison, smooth and rhythmic. “For the innocent blood spilled, the twisted land, the death of all our hopes. The two of you _will_ be My Instruments, striking as from My hand, My enemy though you are. This is My will and My desire. It is… Karma, if you wish. ” The last part sounded derisive.

“Or?” he heard a voice that sounded a lot like Tenpou off to his left, but he couldn’t see him, and couldn’t turn towards him.

The goddess bared her teeth, stained red. “Or remain as you are. The fabric of our fates will rend when the pattern I have woven is completed.”

And Lady Hitomi was surged to her feet and gagging, the back of her hand covering her mouth.

*****

“What I don’t understand is how she ensnared other deities,” Tenpou said.

“She was dying when she cast her final spell. Death carries a great deal of power with it. As you, of all people, should know, Tenpou _Gensui._ ” Lady Hitomi responded. She was very pale, but composed. “And she was not part of our system of belief, so the checks and balances that keep us in harmony did not exist for her. And to be fair, this also worked against her, if the memories she planted in you were accurate. She was the protector of her people, and she was not able to overcome the forces arrayed against her. But all she had to do was lay her trap and wait for suitable people to come along and trigger it. It took hundreds of years, but eventually, she prevailed. One can only admire such a purity of purpose.”

Admiration wasn’t exactly what Kenren felt, but he could understand where Lady Hitomi was coming from.

“Yeah, but why such a freakish revenge?” He flushed a little. “Forcing two people together whether or not they want? What in the fuck was wrong with her?!”

Lady Hitomi shrugged. “She seems to have been concerned with domesticity and prosperity-- weaving fates together, perhaps. I am guessing, but perhaps she oversaw relationships, regardless of their nature. So her revenge was just a variation, a twist, of her powers. Most powers have a dark side, after all, even so-called light powers. It’s a very fine line between giving someone medicine to heal them, and poisoning them, after all.”

Tenpou nodded and rose. “We are in your debt, Lady Hitomi.” He bowed. “What do we owe you for your services?”

“Oh, nothing at all. Kanzeon Bosatsu asked me to see you, as a favor to her. I don’t generally See for people anymore, it is too taxing; but she said she thought I’d find it interesting. That turned out to be quite an understatement.” She smiled slightly. “But we’ll settle up later on.”

“I see,” said Tenpou. Kenren could see he was less than thrilled to have Kanzeon’s fingers in their pie, but Kenren didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, she’d done them a solid.

“We’ll be going, then. Again, thank you.” They both bowed.

“If you wish, you may stay the night. It’s a long way back to the barracks in the dark.”

Kenren laughed and scratched his neck. “That took almost an entire day? No wonder we’re all exhausted.”

“Indeed, and the procedure itself it also grueling. But I would be very pleased for you to take your evening meal with me, and stay overnight.”

They broke bread and left the next morning.

*****

Tenpou was very pensive, watching as Kenren washed up in the little fountain outside.

“So what’s up?” Kenren flicked water at Tenpou.

“I know who the old man is,” he finally said. He was frowning.

“Yeah?”

“What do you know about the divisions of the Heavenly Army? Their reputations, that is.”

Kenren started walking. “Hmm. The Northern is a good and solid group, the best and brightest tend to go there at some point. The Eastern is full of up-and-coming young officers, that’s sort of their stomping ground, where they get trained up into usefulness. Western… well, no offence, but that’s where they stick the misfits and useful idiots who don’t fit anywhere else.” He grinned. “I like to think it gives us a certain flexibility and adaptability not found in the other groups.” Tenpou shrugged, but didn’t disagree with that assessment. “Okay. And the Southern is the old boy’s club, where the upper crust of the upper crust congregate. They’re supposedly elites, but you couldn’t prove it by me. We kick their ass routinely in games.”

“They used to be. Their pride in their accomplishments was entirely justified. They were the Jade Emperor’s right arm, but it’s all rather incestuous now. Promotion not by merit, but by purchase.”

“So? That’s hardly unusual. Many, maybe even most, officers got where they are through patronage rather than coming up through the ranks. That doesn’t necessarily make them bad officers. It just means they need to be watched and trained harder and better.” He grinned. “Are you being a reverse snob?”

Tenpou smiled reluctantly. “Perhaps a bit. The situation has become fairly dire in the Southern. Admission there is more or less invitation only at this point, or so I hear.”

“So how do you know the old guy?”

“Katashi _Gensui_. He was my mentor for a time, when I was coming up through the ranks in the Southern Army. He’s been the head there, well, as far back as anyone can remember.”

“Huh,” said Kenren.

Tenpou smiled again. It wasn’t pleasant. “So, that gives me a good idea who was involved. He has, or had, three supremely loyal generals under him, Shinji, Koji and Eiji.” Kenren nodded, he had heard of them, but had never met them. They sent their lieutenants to any cross-army training games, rather than attending themselves. Mingling with the other armies was apparently below their pay grade. “Katashi has sat at the Jade Emperor’s right hand forever, so I suppose his arrogance has only increased over time. I can easily see him making the decision that Heaven was in need of saving, and that only he could be trusted to do it properly.”

“So, are we Justice or Vengeance? Those are two different things.”

“Oh,” Tenpou said, “I think we can make a more than adequate attempt at giving her both. Shame, after all, is a double-edged sword.”

*****

Kenren temporarily moved into Tenpou’s office complex. It just made things easier, and easier to get back to work. Not that they were working on anything particularly militarily related.

They set up a block printing press in one of the offices that Tenpou had commandeered, and spent a day or two making pamphlets. Tenpou handed them off one dark night to a mysterious man who pulled his dark grey cloak tighter over his head and face when he saw Kenren, until only his eyes showed. He bowed briefly to both of them, and slipped out through the window into the darkness.

It took a couple of months, but Kenren was not surprised when rumors of spreading discontent among the people of southern provinces started reaching his ears.

They printed up a second, different set of pamphlets around that time, the messenger or operative—or whatever he was—took the new set of scurrilous-but-true allegations complete with easily verifiable facts, and eventually he was gratified to hear even his own men whispering scandalized rumors about the Southern in the halls of the barracks.

*****

They printed up the third and final set of pamphlets, and Tenpou provided a detailed timeline of the events of the destruction of the _youkai_ nation, along with evidence of the tampering of official records of the Imperial Archives: a treasonable offense.

“This set will require some finesse with the timing, but I have every faith in Kenichi-san and his friends.”

Kenren laid a tarp down in front of the wall while Tenpou opened a chest and carefully unfolded a large ivory silk banner; the gold, scarlet and black of the embroidered phoenix sigil looked almost garish in the shabbiness of the white rooms.

He looked at it and sighed. “I was quite proud of this at one point. I won it for superior strategy in managing an operation Down Below.”

“You sure about this?” Kenren took it and tacked it up onto the wall. “We don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”

“It never meant what I thought it did. So yes, I’m quite sure.”

“All right then. Stand back.”

“Allow me, _Taishou_.” He took the jar of blood from Kenren, and splashed it liberally and artistically all over the sigil.

“Gonna post it in front of the officer’s club?” Kenren asked, watching the rivulets of red trickle down the wall. The room already smelled bad from the drying blood, and he ushered Tenpou out and closed the door.

“I was thinking the parade grounds. Just as effective, and with more exposure.”

Later he watched Kenichi-san take the latest pamphlets and the banner and vanish out the window.

“I guess we’ll know something one way or another in a couple of days.”

“Yes,” said Tenpou, “we will.”

They dismantled the press and burned the wood pieces later that night.

*****

Goujun summoned both of them to his offices three days later.

Before either of them could say anything he threw down a packet on his desk in front of Tenpou. “Read that.” He folded his arms, but his face was more or less expressionless.

Tenpou raised his eyebrows in surprise. “What is it?”

“A series of anonymous allegations regarding the Southern Army and their complicity in treason and war crimes. Do you know anything about it?”

“Not at all. I rarely listen to gossip.” That was a blatant lie, and Kenren bit his lip.

Tenpou picked it up, and Kenren leaned on his shoulder to read it. There was a lot more than just the crap they had printed up: dispatches from the other armies, commentary from his fellow generals. Some of it was pretty funny. None of it was complimentary or supportive. Kenren was actually taken aback at the depth of the rancor the Southern had built up among the other armies.

“Oh dear, the accusers posted a desecrated banner in the heart of the Southern. How dramatic and scandalous.” The corner of his mouth quirked up, but from where Kenren stood his eyes were hard. Tenpou tilted his head so Goujun couldn’t accurately make out his expression.

“Shinji _Taishou_ , Koji _Taishou_ and Eiji _Taishou_ have been arrested and charged with treason. Katashi _Gensui_ committed suicide before he could be arrested. Their families have been ruined, and the Southern Army is in utter disarray and the provinces are in a state of unrest. We’re still trying to decide what to do to recover the situation. But I wonder, putting myself in the place of whoever started all this, was it all worth it, Tenpou _Gensui_?”

Tenpou shrugged. “Are you asking me what my opinion is?”

“I just want to understand why.”

“At the risk of sounding flippant, I assume that whoever provided the allegations might believe that ‘justice should be done, though the heavens may fall.’”

“Treasonous sentiments, Tenpou _Gensui,_ ” Goujun sighed.

Tenpou promptly began to unlace his sword to hand it to Goujun, just as Kenren pulled his pistol from the holster and began to check the chambers to empty them. “Desist, you two idiots. I trust... that whoever provided the allegations at least was careful about keeping their noses clean.”

“I am sure they were, Sir.” Tenpou’s tone was comforting.

“Excellent. That is, it is perhaps understandable, under the circumstances, why they chose not to involve their superior officers. I surmise it may have been quite difficult to know who to trust, or even if anyone besides the accusers were trustworthy at all. Nevertheless, I am certain that, had they so chosen, their superior officers would have aided them in any way they could have. ”

There was a long silence while he and Tenpou digested that, and Kenren felt something that might have been an actual pang of guilt. But, nah. He still thought it was best that they left Goujun out of it.

“The log for the portal Down Below has gone missing,” Goujun continued. “There’s no record of anybody’s comings and goings going back a year or so. So unfortunately it will be quite difficult to trace anyone’s movements or to make any determinations from using it for evidence.”

“Hmm. Someone has been rather enterprising, it would seem.” The portal log going missing was actually a surprise; they hadn’t been the ones to disappear it.

“Nevertheless, since the area in question was mentioned in conjunction with these allegations, a team will be dispatched in order to perform any necessary ceremonies or rites. Any desecrations will be reversed by the Emperor’s own clerics, and incense will be burned in the memory of those who died.”

“I am very glad to hear it, Sir,” murmured Tenpou.

“I hope you will believe me when I tell you that the Emperor was shocked and grieved to learn of this tragedy. As was I, Tenpou _Gensui_ and Kenren _Taishou_.”

“Mmm.” Kenren almost kicked Tenpou. At least Goujun wasn’t being anywhere near as dickish as he probably should have been if he actually believed what he seemed to be implying—they should have been under arrest at the very least--and he seemed to be trying hard to throw them a bone.

“It was a shock to us too, Sir,” said Kenren, and he met Goujun’s eyes squarely.

Goujun nodded. “Dismissed, gentlemen.”

Kenren saluted smartly and left, suppressing a grin at Goujun’s look of utter consternation.

*****

A few days later, Kenren entered Tenpou’s office and locked the door.

Tenpou looked up from his book, his eyebrow lifted.

“I am trying to tell if the spell has been lifted,” Kenren supplied.

Tenpou closed his book. “Are you conducting an experiment?” He sounded amused. “So what have you determined?”

“Well. Here’s the thing. I still want to bend you over the desk. But I think the catnip thing has finally gone away. That’s what I was checking.”

“I don’t smell you either,” said Tenpou. He actually seemed a little regretful about it, which surprised Kenren. If he had had to guess what aspect it was that Tenpou had hated most about this entire misadventure, he would have picked the whole getting-utterly-lost-in-sensation thing.

“So, I guess I can move back to my apartment.”

“Mmm. Or you can stay, and I can endeavor to keep you sufficiently entertained.”

“I don’t know. My attention span is kind of limited.” He tried not to smile.

“Oh, I believe I can keep your attention sufficiently engaged.” Tenpou looked and sounded completely earnest, but that was one of those semi-threat statements that Tenpou did so well, and a little knot of excitement tightened in his gut.

“Yeah?”

“Yes. You see,” Tenpou said, and he came around the desk and perched on it right in front of Kenren, “I am kinky. Among other things.”

“Kinky, huh?”

“Yes. Quite.”

“Huh, me too. Imagine that.” He reached out and touched Tenpou’s face, and for the first time there was no compulsion, just honest need and want.

“All right,” he said and removed Tenpou’s glasses. “Let’s.”


End file.
